Ruben-Selles-Manager

Monday night’s 4-3 defeat at Nottingham Forest all-but confirmed Saints’ relegation with Selles’s side now eight points adrift with just three games to go.  Failure to beat Fulham on Saturday would officially curtail Saints’ 11-season stay in the top flight and boss Selles has provided insight into how the club could react to that eventuality.  "The club will present an agenda in the coming days or weeks on how they are going to deal with the situation in case that happens," Selles said following the slender defeat at the City Ground. "And that's for the club to respond on that. "I can tell you what we did until this moment right now and what we are going to do for the next week - we are going to just keep working as much as we can, and then keep the situations for the future, for the people that need to be responsible for that.” It’s been a tough spell for Selles who stepped into the managerial role after Nathan Jones was sacked following just eight games in charge. After winning two of his first three games, Selles has now overseen a ten-match winless run, Saints’ longest of the season. The Spaniard’s contract expires at the close of the current campaign and addressing his own future, the Saints manager said: "I expected to win more football matches. "And I think we put some good performances in to do that. And it's a decision that the club need to make. I will be happy to be here for the next ten years, as I say many times to you. But it's not for me to make a decision."

Selles's team enter the weekend six points adrift of safety and with only four games left to play, it will take a minor miracle for Saints to avoid the drop. Relegation would mean a return to the Championship for the first time since the 2011/12 season, no doubt a disaster for the club and the entire city. READ MORE: Saints team news for Nottingham Forest trip - Onuachu set for return as four remain absent Asked about the possibility of relegation and the impact it would have on the wider community, Selles responded: "Well it's not going to be a nice picture for any of us, I think that's clear.  “The club, city, and fans all deserve to be in the Premier League. When you're a club that gets relegated, it is because of a number of situations and you need to learn from that. If it happens, it happens and we need to learn from that. But we'll be fighting for it not to happen." READ MORE: Selles - 'I always say I want to be here for the next ten years, that is my ambition' Popular statistics company Opta have now given Saints a 98.7% chance of suffering relegation but Selles is refusing to concede until his side’s fate is mathematically decided. “This is the Premier League. We are still there," he added. "We didn't have the best April as you know. But it's not only difficult for us, it is difficult for everybody.  “And the difference between us and the others has not been that they have been better than us in some moments. It has been like a moment when they got the three points when they should not get it. So I think we are still there and we are going to be there."

Only Nottingham Forest have used more players in the Premier League this season than Saints’ 32 - level with Chelsea - as all three clubs toil through challenging and underwhelming campaigns. And speaking ahead of Monday night’s trip to Nottingham Forest, Selles provided insight into the challenges of managing such a large squad while admitting that it has likely played a role in Saints’ disastrous season. READ MORE: Selles - 'I always say I want to be here for the next ten years, that is my ambition' “You don’t need to be a genius in football to know that when you have a bigger squad, it’s more difficult to manage internally and also in the rotation of the games,” the 39-year-old told the Daily Echo.  “Because the relations are difficult between the players, not only for the coach but for the players as well it is difficult. It doesn’t matter which kind of players you have because I think the Nottingham Forest squad is very different to our squad in terms of the pattern of the players.  “And even for Chelsea - who is number three on that list - it is difficult because there are a lot of personal situations that tend to be more individual than a team issue. And when you don’t have those kinds of relations, it’s more difficult to compete.  “So definitely when you have a big squad either it's a big big reason for that (the problems building relationships between players) or the preference would be to have smaller squads.”   The size of Saints’ squad has proven to be a problem for all three managers this season and it was only made more difficult by the January transfer window which saw five senior players signed - as well as the recall of Jan Bednarek - while there were no notable departures. Consistent opportunities have been tough to come by for a number of players since Selles took over from Nathan Jones with Mislav Orsic almost immediately frozen out following his winter transfer. Paul Onuachu, also signed in the January window, has seen his opportunities dry up as well, starting none of Saints’ last ten Premier League matches.  After missing last weekend’s trip to St James’ Park due to feeling discomfort in his knee, the striker should be fit to return to the squad on Monday, if selected by Selles, no guarantee considering he was left out entirely for the previous 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Monday’s opponents Nottingham Forest have faced similar challenges this season after heavy recruitment in the last two windows saw them sign a total of 30 new players. Steve Cooper’s side enter the weekend in the bottom three on goal difference, six points clear of Saints.  Defeat for Saints would leave them on the brink of officially being relegated to the Championship and while Selles has insisted the he and his players still believe that they can overturn the deficit to safety in the final four games, he admitted that another loss on Monday - which would be their seventh in the last nine matches - would make things significantly more difficult. “There are moments when you're up and you're down but that is normal for all of us,” Selles added.  “Players know they can do it and it's not a case where we feel we're completely out of it, we compete against every team and it's our belief we have been competitive but for some reason or another we haven't got the points. If there is a time to do it then it is now."

Che Adams had a late leveller ruled out for offside but Marcus Tavernier’s deflected strike was enough for the Cherries to pick up a deserved three points. It means the St Mary’s side remain six points adrift of safety with five games to play, including Newcastle United, Brighton and Liverpool. Relegation now seems an almost certainty but Selles has insisted his team will not lie down and accept their fate in the run-in. Speaking after the match, he said: “We just need to keep fighting and trying to perform every game and trying to give a win. “We’ve shown that we can perform against any team, we just need to be more constant and more robust in the things that we do. “When we play against Arsenal or Manchester United it was working but with the performance today, it was not working.” Selles added: “There is a habit we need to create and consistency we didn’t find, especially after the last international break we lost Che and were not able to make the result against West Ham – everything went a little bit to the other side. “Sometimes we are getting it but others we are not, today everything went against us – but that is not an excuse. We had the (Romain) Perraud injury, (James) Ward-Prowse illness and offside at the end. We know where we are but need to find consistency.” Under Selles, Saints have been beaten by Leeds United, Brentford, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and now Bournemouth. It has been a season-long problem that the side perform against the ‘bigger’ clubs – beating Chelsea twice and taking points from Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – but bottle the games that really matter. Asked to explain this phenomenon, Selles told the Daily Echo: “Sometimes it is about the level of pressure on the matches, sometimes it is about the type of football the other team is playing and sometimes it is about ourselves not being on point. “Those are the facts we are trying to change to be more competitive.”

Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City leaves Saints rooted to the bottom of the table, although the gap to safety remains at four points. However, with victories over the weekend for Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Wolves, and West Ham, Saints are threatening to be cut adrift. READ MORE: 'No conviction' Bednarek laments Saints scoring struggles after Man City chance But asked about that possibility, Selles responded: "No, I don't waste my time watching the table, I think this is for a lot of other people. "I look at my team, I try to get the very best of the situation. And we are still there, we are still alive, we can put some good performances on like today. "I believe in what we are doing. And we are going to continue doing and continuing with it. Because we know also it is just one game. In one game, we are there." Sandwiched either side of a tough away trip to league-leaders Arsenal, Saints host Crystal Palace and Bournemouth with the pair of St Mary's fixtures potentially decisive for their survival aspirations. "I think the positive thing is that we showed that we are a team that can compete against anybody for a big part of the game, and against anybody, we showed it before during the last two months," Selles added.  "I think it's also created for the unity between the technical staff and the players and we understand each other, they get the message and they execute the message. "So that means everybody is working hard. We are going to be together until the very end of the season trying to be the very best."

Manchester City scored four past his team as Sekou Mara posted one in response, in a 4-1 defeat at St Mary’s this weekend. Saints have scored six goals in eight Premier League games under Selles, including a 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur before the last international break. Selles also started without a recognised number nine for the clash with City, which sees them remain bottom of the table and four points adrift with eight games to play. When speaking after the match, Selles was asked if his side will need to take their foot off the brakes and look to have more attacking intent if they are to win matches. “We always go on the front foot but we cannot go crazy on the front foot and open up spaces,” the Spaniard responded. “Like today, for example, we can go high and apply the pressure – but if we are not organised we will never do it. “We will still have the same approach really, we know we are competitive and know we can compete against anybody. “So it is to take the same approach, to believe in what we are doing and to try and play with what we think is the correct thing.” He added: “We know if we are a team that just kicks it long and goes for the second action we will go nowhere. “We have been building an identity now for two months and we have a team in which you can recognise how Southampton wants to do things. “That’s where we are, we need to be proud of what we do. I think we are, and the connections will be there and we will be competitive and get more points for sure.” Saints return to action on Saturday, April 15 (3PM) when they welcome Crystal Palace, managed again by Roy Hodgson, to St Mary’s.  

With the international break providing the first natural pause since Selles took over from Nathan Jones in mid-February, the Spaniard sat down with the Saints media team to discuss his journey and the earliest days of his tenure. Initially joining Saints in the summer as part of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s staff, Selles’s path to the South Coast took him all across Europe in various coaching roles before eventually making the leap to British soil. READ MORE: Will Saints survive? How things stand in the relegation battle with ten games to go And when the Jones era disintegrated in just eight league games, it was the experienced coach - and first time manager - Selles, who was chosen as his replacement, initially on an interim basis before getting the job until the end of the season. “I don’t know what a comfort zone is, to be honest with you. I’ve been living out of that comfort zone for 15 years,” he says. “I think it says about me that I can do almost everything that I want to do, I am ready to invest what I think is the proper thing to invest. Sometimes we need to be separated for a long time with the family, but as a family we decide to do it. “I think it just put me in a position where I can understand almost every single point of view, but it is also making my life easier – I have 17 nationalities in the dressing room with different backgrounds, different religions, but because of my past I have touched almost everything in one country or another country, so I know exactly how they feel and exactly what they need. I think it is a big advantage." Ruben Selles pictured with his Saints players ahead of their League Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday earlier this season. (Image: PA) As well as taking him to a wide range of locations, Selles's football life has seen him adopt numerous roles across the fitness side, analysis departments, coaching and management. “I think it just says that I was a person that didn’t wait for the opportunity – just go and try to get it, and try to be as honest and direct as possible, and adapt himself to a different scenario, which I think is a very, very important quality in life," Selles added. “Now when we are here talking, when I have a fantastic technical staff in Southampton, I know what is required to make every single activity they make, so I can demand exactly what I can demand from them, and I know how to not overload them. That is a big advantage for me. “I know how much it takes you to analyse a football match and it is not something you can make from one hour to the other. I know how much it takes for you to prepare a training session, or a video session, or to analyse the game from a statistical point of view – I did almost every single job in football, so I understand and I can demand.”

Since taking charge following the sacking of Nathan Jones, Selles has worked to improve Saints’ defensive outlook and it’s led to three clean sheets in five games, including such successes at both Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford. Those clean sheets have led to seven crucial points but the lack of goals was brought to the forefront once again on Wednesday night as Selles’s side toiled to create anything of note despite keeping the majority of the ball. READ MORE: Selles predicts survival margin will be one point amid aim to 'reduce outside noise' Saints have now scored just twice in the five Premier League games under the Spaniard’s guidance. But asked by the Daily Echo whether he has prioritised a defensive approach and a lack of attacking bravery, Selles insisted that was not the issue. “If they (fans) feel there is a lack of bravery they can see the build-up with Gavin (Bazunu), Armel (Bella Kotchap), and Jan (Bednarek) in the last game, how we are trying to build from the back.  “I don’t think it’s lack of bravery, I’d take that of the equation. I think sometimes it takes time to build something, I think because we’ve changed a lot in the last year it’s not easy to find the connections, and then once you find the connections and find the principles, it’s just about finding the flow and the players to do it.  “I know people are worried about that (the lack of goals) but I don’t think our approach is a defensive approach at all. I think what we are doing is trying to defend high, trying to apply pressure, trying to win the ball high, and when we have the ball we are not a team who is kicking the ball long and guessing for something.  “We are a team that is trying to build up, you can see the patterns, you can see the adjustment from game to game - sometimes it works, sometimes a little bit less. So I would say for us, for me, for this period, it’s a process. "I will not evaluate before because it’s not the right thing to do and I hope and think that after the work we put in we will become better soon. But I understand the concern because it’s facts.” An element of the concerns raised by supporters has been to do with the personnel chosen by Selles. While record-signing Kamaldeen Sulemana has established himself as a regular, fellow January addition Paul Onuachu has taken a back-seat to Che Adams while Samuel Edozie and Joe Aribo have struggled to even make the squad. Saints striker Che Adams in action against Manchester United. (Image: PA) The attacking trio that started against Brentford has combined for four league goals this sason - all scored by Adams - and no Saints forward has found the net since the World Cup break.  But Selles rejected the idea that those players picked have been the reason for the team’s lack of potency. “It’s interesting because I didn’t have that perception,” he responded. “So if you have that perception maybe I should communicate in a better way.  “I just think that I can live with my strikers not scoring a goal in the whole season but doing everything properly. As you see with Che Adams, we are using him in the link-up play many times, freeing the space for others.  “Right now we’re in a situation where it’s not about who scores the goals, it’s about actually scoring the goals. If we sound like we have a defensive approach then maybe I made a mistake trying to send that message because it’s not like that.  “And I think we show it. We show our patterns of play, we show dominance for some periods also, the Manchester United game we had situations in the box and it wasn’t because we weren’t brave or because we didn’t have the quality or because of one name or another.  “It was the team, 11 vs 11 or 10 vs 11. So I don’t see a problem there, we are working and we are improving and like many areas.”

The St Mary’s outfit have a final game before the March international break on Saturday – when they will host Tottenham Hotspur – and that will take us into the last 10. Saints will next play in two weeks’ time, with a visit to West Ham United. David Moyes’s side are also fighting a relegation battle despite still competing in the Europa Conference League knockouts. Reaching the magic 40-point mark seems unlikely for bottom-place Saints, who would need 18 points from their remaining games. However, Selles will want to total as many as possible. “I don’t want to sit on defeat for one hour, that is what I can tell you. So imagine for two weeks,” he said. “I will prepare every game to win the game, to do the best performance we can and to get the best results.” The Spaniard added: “That’s what I want for tomorrow, I don’t think about what will happen if we have to sit on a defeat for two weeks though. It’s all about what we can do today. “Then it’s what can we do tomorrow, how can we support the boys during the game and do the very best performance. Whatever will come will come.” Selles still has the difficult task of leaving half a dozen or more fit seniors out of his 20-man matchday squads every week, due to the number of players he has. The likes of January signing Mislav Orsic are among those not playing regular minutes, while Samuel Edozie has also fallen down the order under Selles. The boss was asked if a defeat like Wednesday’s – losing 2-0 at home to Brentford – gives him the opportunity to consider players as of yet not making an impact. "We didn’t get all the principles we want against Brentford. We analysed what happened in the game and how we can attack (against Tottenham),” he said. "Tomorrow is a different challenge and we may use a different player, but we’ll learn from the key moments of the defeat on Wednesday night. “I think every player should have the hope to get into the team if they work hard and we are happy with what they are doing. “They can control their performances and what they do and then it is up to me to pick the team. I can understand that from the outside, it seems players are disappointed. “Sometimes people are disappointed, all of us in any given job think we can do it and in football with other people making the decisions it is difficult.”

The Southampton manager is encouraging his more experienced professionals to step up to help and advise youngsters in the squad as the team battle to beat the drop.  Selles told the Daily Echo: "Everybody wants to give a solution. If it’s not Theo Walcott, it’s Stuart Armstrong, Willy Caballero or Ward-Prowse. And of course they need to give advice, of course they see things that sometimes you don’t see. You need to hear them because if you hear them, you are closer to seeing the solutions. "The dressing room needs to be alive, so it’s not only Theo but it’s all of them - they have all stepped up and they all want to move things forward. In the leadership that I practise, everybody has a space and in the good moments, we are together." Saints manager Ruben Selles (Image: Stuart Martin) He added: "It is teamwork. I don’t see this as a special thing. Giving people the freedom to step in and know what we’re doing is good because sometimes they know the solution, I don’t even need to say the solution and they already know. "Sometimes it is much better to talk player-to-player than to talk coach-to-player because they can be more direct to each other and they can understand each other." Keep up to date with Saints news by signing up to our daily newsletter. Selles saved special praise for former Saints Academy scholar Theo Walcott, who has featured more under the new manager. James Ward-Prowse, Kyle Walker-Peters and Stuart Armstrong are among more experienced members of the squad (Image: Stuart Martin) His return to the starting line-up coincided with a return to winning ways for Saints on Saturday, but youngsters are also benefitting from his experience with Arsenal and England. Selles added: "Theo Walcott is the best example, and I think we are getting more and more benefit from his knowledge for what the young lads need to do, and what they need to avoid. "Theo has been in football for almost half of his life, from when smartphones were not there and when you had the paparazzi, and he was the youngest player for England in the World Cup. To the moment now when his life is more calm and he’s an experienced player in the Premier League. "The young lads need to listen to what he has to say and pay attention because it’ll be a big advantage for them."

The Spaniard, set to take charge of the Saints team for the second time as the new permanent boss in the FA Cup fifth round versus Grimsby Town, wants fans on side. Selles orchestrated a 1-0 win over Chelsea in his one match as interim boss but the side fell flat in a vital six-pointer at Leeds United over the weekend. It leaves them four points adrift of safety but they remain just two wins away from Wembley in the cup and also have 14 games to save their league season. Selles issued a message to supporters, saying: “I need all of them. If I can make a call right now, it's that I need them not for the next two games but for the rest of the season. “To make the environment at St Mary's a really strong environment. Being with us, supporting us. We know the performances have not been the best from our side, but we are trying to work to make them proud. “What I need from them is unconditional support. To be there in every game and play as the number 12. We need to do it together and see where we are at the end of the journey. He added: “We need to be proud of what we did and everybody put their piece in to be successful. I will tell fans to come, support, believe and stay with us until the very end." Don't miss a moment with our Saints morning briefing email.

The St Mary’s side came unstuck once more when the pressure was on versus relegation rivals, following a 1-0 defeat at Leeds United on Saturday. It meant Saints have now lost to Nottingham Forest, Wolves and the Whites – who were all in 19th place at the time of facing – since the turn of the year. Over 30 per cent of the points Saints have picked up this season have come versus Chelsea, while a cup win over Manchester City was also seen as a potential turning point. The young outfit are capable of a top performance, with quality individuals throughout, but many have suggested they do not have the mental strength to handle the really big moments just yet. Selles, however, responds: “I will not talk about bravery. I will talk about solutions. So for me bravery is out of the question, I think our players have it. “The thing is that we didn't find the connections and didn't find the time to put players in the box. So when we arrive into the last third, it was sometimes too quick that we didn't give ourselves the time to travel together into the final third. “Because if we give the time for two or three passes, then we know we can arrive into the last third with more players and with more travel in the box,” he explains, assessing Saturday’s defeat at Elland Road. “But we were trying to be too direct for some moments. And when you're trying to be too direct, you can have a lucky shot. But then you don’t have the habit and that's what we need to repeat. “So we need to travel even more together with the ball and then we need to be even more compact in possession. I think it's never just one thing or the other thing. I think, during the first half, we missed some of the triggers that we were ready to attack and perhaps I didn't explain that well. So it's my own fault. “And we tried to adjust with the 4-2-3-1 at half-time and I think we grew into the second half. And when we conceded the goal it was at a good moment for us in the game. When we controlled more of the ball, we had more and we were more in possession and that goal changed the momentum, and we never came back.” Asked if the players need to brush off the crucial defeat as soon as possible, with Premier League action resuming with a televised meeting versus Leicester City at St Mary’s on Saturday, Selles delivered a poignant one-liner. “Well, you know negative emotions stay in your head three times longer than positive emotions, so I expect that to happen,” he said. Don't miss a moment with our Saints morning briefing email.

Junior Firpo scored the only goal in a 1-0 win to seal a massive three points for Leeds United at Elland Road, as bottom-placed Saints visited the club just above them. Selles’s charges were lucky not to lose by more and did not test Illan Meslier in the Whites's goal, just seven days after the victory at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. The result leaves them in 20th and now four points adrift of safety, with three points between the St Mary’s side and the next closest rivals. Saints have now lost 10 games by just one goal this campaign. However, Selles, speaking after his first match as permanent manager of the club, was keen to calm concerns. “You can see the point from different perspectives, for me it shows we are there. We are there in every game and we have the possibility to perform and win the game,” he said. “We are not a team that is conceding a lot and is out of the game and therefore not competing. We are competing, we are there and we are Premier League level. We’re doing things and performing at that level, but what we want to do is give some kind of net for our players to feel comfortable and perform. “Obviously what we need to do is make the net even stronger, with even more solutions. But this is down to me and is our responsibility, we are trying to create this net where they feel more comfortable. “When you are making a process like we are building now there is going to be some errors. We need to be ready for the next step.” Asked what he can say to supporters, who feel their 11-year stay in the Premier League could come to and without rapid improvement, he added: “I just say we need to keep working, we are doing good things. “The week has been fantastic in terms of work but unfortunately we didn’t perform and we will need to do a review. I take responsibility, if we didn’t perform well it is probably because I didn’t explain all of my points and I need to do it better. “It is not about how we are building a process for the long-term, any coach who comes in here would tell you the same. We need to build into the idea and grow to find the connections. “Sometimes this is quicker than not, but we were not the best last weekend when we won and we are not the worst today. We are just a team that is continuing growing and sometimes to grow you need this kind of accident.” Don't miss a moment with our Saints morning briefing email.